Scottish ministers will work with councils to establish how a £100 winter energy payment can reach households, after the UK Government announced a support scheme for millions of homes in England.
The payment was announced by Chancellor John Healey during the Autumn Budget and is intended to help households manage higher energy costs during the coldest part of the year. Under the plan, around 20 million households in England in council tax bands A to D will receive £100 directly into their bank accounts.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are not covered by the English delivery arrangement. However, Mr Healey said the devolved governments would receive funding on a proportionate basis and urged them to establish equivalent help for households in their nations.
Ministers consider how the money will be distributed
Jenny Gilruth, Scotland’s Deputy First Minister and Finance Secretary, said the Scottish Government intended to replicate the support but acknowledged that the approach was not without difficulties. She said ministers would work with local government partners to determine how the funding could be delivered.
“The important thing is that people get this money in to their accounts and they benefit financially from this because bills are so high at the current time.”
Ms Gilruth said the priority was ensuring that eligible people received the money rather than attempting to alter Scotland’s council tax system before the winter. The existing bands are based on property valuations from 1991, and the system has been criticised as outdated.
There is cross-party agreement at Holyrood that council tax bands should be reformed, but no agreement on what a replacement system should look like. Ms Gilruth said it would not be possible to re-band properties between now and the winter, meaning any Scottish payment would need to rely on an alternative administrative process or on the existing framework.
Scale of the proposed Scottish support
Government figures indicate that approximately 1.9 million homes in Scotland fall within council tax bands A to D. Providing each of those households with £100 would cost at least £190 million.
| Measure | Details |
|---|---|
| Payment announced for England | £100 per household |
| Households covered in England | About 20 million |
| Scottish homes in bands A to D | About 1.9 million |
| Indicative Scottish cost at £100 per home | At least £190 million |
| UK-wide scheme announced by the Chancellor | £2.6 billion |
Funding will come through the devolved administrations
The Chancellor’s announcement places responsibility for the precise arrangements in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland with their respective governments. The funding allocated to them is expected to reflect the value of the English programme, although the source material does not set out the individual amounts for each nation.
Mr Healey said the payment was designed to provide households with some breathing space as energy bills rose. He called on the devolved governments to follow the English example and pass support to residents during the winter.
For Scotland, the immediate issue is therefore not whether the existing council tax bands can be revised, but how the proposed assistance can be identified and paid. Any delay or disagreement over the method of distribution could affect when households receive the money.
Ms Gilruth also acknowledged wider concerns about the way funding from the UK Government is administered for people most in need. Nevertheless, she said the Scottish Government needed to work with councils to ensure that households received the assistance required.
- Ministers and councils will discuss the mechanism for paying the support in Scotland.
- About 1.9 million Scottish homes are in council tax bands A to D.
- Reforming the country’s council tax bands is not considered possible before this winter.
The Scottish Budget is due to be announced next month. Until then, the final details of the Scottish arrangement, including how households will be identified and when payments will be made, remain to be confirmed.
